So as I watched her lock the front doors of the burger joint, I felt vindicated in what I was doing. I was looking out for her. I was making sure she got home safely.
It had nothing to do with the fact that if I waited long enough outside her apartment building that I could catch a glimpse of her—of the rest of her body.
She pushed her hair over her shoulder, looking left and right as if she could sense someone was there. There wasn’t though. It was just me and her. And as if she knew that, her attention froze on the spot I was standing in.
I knew she couldn’t see me, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel me.
My lips pulled up into a grin as she bit down on her bottom lip then turned away from me. She was slow walking down the street, slower than she normally was. Every so often, she would pause and look behind her, but she wasn’t panicked. Her chest moved faster, but I knew it wasn’t because she could feel someone behind her.
No.
It was because she knew someone was there and she liked it.
She liked the thought of someone in the shadows staring at her.
I groaned, reaching down to my sweats and grabbing my hardening cock. Every time I saw her, I had a visceral reaction, one that I felt like I couldn’t control.
Only, I could, because I’d made myself wait. I’d kept my obsession with her a secret, even from her.
But now it was time she knew. Now it was time she found out just who I was and what I wanted. I’d bided my time, and now all I had to figure out was how to not scare her away.
Chapter Four
Kloey
My breaths came faster as I turned the corner of my street. Every fiber of my being wanted to turn around again, but I knew I wouldn’t see anything. It was too dark for me to make anything out, and I cursed myself for forgetting my flashlight yet again.
At least if I would have had that I could have shone it behind me to see who was there—to see if anyone was there.
I shook my head. No one was there. I was overthinking and letting my mind run away with me.
I pulled my apartment keys out of my pocket, gripping onto them as tight as I could. I was only ten meters away now, and at the last second, I turned, spotting something moving under one of the streetlights.
I wasn’t imagining it.
“Who’s there?” I asked, my voice small.
I didn’t know what I was expecting—for someone to answer me—but I was greeted with silence. I shook my head as I turned and walked up the path to my apartment building. My mind had been on high alert since I took the trash out at the burger joint, so this was just me imagining things, right?
The key slipped into the lock, the metal scraping against metal. I turned it then stumbled into the entry way and slammed the door behind me. My breaths were gasps, as if I had just run a marathon, but I couldn’t deny liking the adrenaline pumping through my body. I liked it. I liked the thought of someone watching me.
My feet carried me toward my apartment door and once I was inside, I didn’t bother turning the light on. I needed the darkness to look out of the window. I needed to know if there was someone there.
Chapter Five
Nixon
She could sense me, feel me behind her. And for the first time since I’d followed her home, I wanted to make myself known. Too many times she’d been oblivious to me walking behind her, but when she asked who was there, I’d nearly replied to her. I’d nearly given up the game I’d been playing.
I stood across the road to her apartment, seeing her shadow in the window of the front door. Normally this would be when I left, when I would go back to my place, or even back to the gym for a late training session to get some of my frustrations out.
But today I didn’t.
Today I waited.
Waited to see what she would do.
It didn’t take long for me to see movement in her first-floor apartment. It stayed casted in darkness, as if she couldn’t be seen. And maybe to anyone else she wouldn’t have, but I could just about make her outline out.
She came closer to her windows, her hair now down and not pulled into the tight bun she wore at work. And for some reason that I didn’t want to overthink, I felt myself moving forward. Just enough so she could see me.
I stared at her, not able to see her reaction, but when she backed away, so did I.
I’d gone far enough for tonight.
But I’d be back.
Chapter Six
Kloey
My skin prickled as I walked to the burger joint. I wasn’t working today, but I needed to pick up my paycheck so I could get some proper groceries and pay my gas bill. In reality, that was all it would cover, but I tried to imagine it stretching further, at least enough so I could buy myself something, even if it was from a thrift store.
None of the clothes I owned were brand new. In fact, I couldn’t remember ever buying anything brand new. I’d been passed down all kinds of things while I had been in the system. Clothes, shoes, bags, used pencils for school.
I inhaled a deep breath, trying to imagine what the smell of something new would be like. The mustiness from several people wearing an item before me wouldn’t be there. There wouldn’t be holes or frayed edges.
I sighed.
One day I’d be able to get
